December 18, 2011
WTO 3-day talks end
Geneva, Ministers wrapped up a three-day meeting of the World Trade Organisation on Saturday with no new direction in sight for the deadlocked Doha Round of negotiations for a global free trade pact.
Conference chairman and Nigerian Trade Minister Olusegun Aganga voiced his regret at the impasse, according to a draft copy of a statement due to be issued at the end of the day.
It calls on the WTO's 153 member states to "more fully explore different negotiating approaches" and "intensify their efforts to look into ways" to overcome the stalemate.
Launched a decade ago in the Qatari capital, the Doha Round of negotiations has faltered, as developing and developed countries failed to bridge entrenched positions on cutting farm subsidies and lowering industrial tariffs.
With the talks at a standstill, ministers had arrived in Geneva knowing full well that their three-day meeting was not a negotiating session.
The main bright spot of the meeting was Russia's accession to the world trade body this week after a record 18 years of negotiations.
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Russia applied in 1993 but talks dragged on and its brief war with Georgia in 2008 further delayed its application as Tbilisi was able to veto Moscow's application by virtue of its WTO membership of the WTO.
Besides Russia, the WTO on Saturday ushered in two other countries -- Samoa and Montenegro -- to its fold, although parliaments in all three nations must first ratify the move.
But beyond the expanding membership, there was little progress on the Doha Round.
EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht admitted at a press conference that WTO member states needed to "recognise that our credibility has been seriously damaged by our failure to get Doha off the ground".
"We must make sure that 2012 does not become a 'lost year'. I am ready to take the lead and I look to all my partners to join me," he said.
Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Beijing was open to "exploring new pathways and issues" but that members must not lose sight of the fact that the main principle of Doha was to lift countries out of poverty through trade.
"This is like mountain climbing, the summit is the Doha Round. But we've hit a roadblock on the way to the top, so we can either do a detour or we can find a new path.
Taiwanese economy minister Shih Yen-Shiang said there had been important developments at the meeting.
"The first important point is that ministers have reaffirmed their pledge to continue discussions in the Doha Round."
"They have also pledged to resist protectionism. And third, Russia gaining membership to the organisation after 18 years of negotiations," he said.
Nigeria's Aganga said member states were leaving the Geneva talks with a more positive frame of mind after arriving in a pessimistic mood because of the stalling of the Doha process.
"But if you look at the mood, it has completely changed in the last two days. The message that we're getting consistently from members is that the WTO is too important for all of us so we must ensure that we have a very strong, effective WTO," he said.
As for Doha, "the ministers are taking responsibility and saying that we have to move it forward and make sure we get what we want by the next ministerial meeting," he told AFP.
The WTO typically schedules a ministerial meeting every two years.
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12/16/2011
Kuwait commerce minister underlines WTO role
Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Amani Bouresli
GENEVA, Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Amani Bouresli stressed here Friday the significant role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially in developing and least-developed countries.
Addressing the 8th ministerial meeting of the WTO, the minister said this meeting comes at a very difficult time for all Members in light of the on-going global financial and economic crisis, described by WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy as the worst since World War II. "However, we believe that the mission and role of the WTO has increased in importance especially for the developing and least developed countries (LDC) as a result of the financial crisis," she said.
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And despite of the global economic crisis the evidence strongly supports that some nations have reaped the benefits of their membership to WTO such as realizing higher economic growth rates, robust export growth and welfare gains, she added.
"The global crisis should be viewed as a challenge and should be dealt with positively. As described by observers; crisis carries some hidden opportunities. Therefore, upon dealing with outstanding issues we need to change our approach," Bouresli noted.
The Member states are aware of how important this conference would be in providing a platform for dialogue and assessing progress and outstanding difficulties that WTO integrated system has faced in the area of Doha Development Agenda negotiations, implementation of agreements, dispute settlement, monitoring and surveillance, capacity building, accessions, trade and development and other activities, she said.
The Kuwaiti minister went on to say: "In this regard, I call upon WTO members not to save any effort to move forward the Doha round, which can give the necessary impetus to address the present global economic challenges." "I also believe it is important to strengthen the other regular bodies and surveillance mechanisms of the organization, in particular the Committee on Trade and Development, which should continue to be the focal point and coordinator of all development related activities in WTO, including Regional Trade Agreement under Enabling Clause. We regret that two members of this Organization continue to block consensus concerning the observer request of the League of Arab States. This action undermines otherwise unanimous support for the request and is inconsistent with the WTO's rules and guidelines.
We hope that the two members would reconsider their position to allow all qualified IGOs to participate on the WTO's activities," she remarked.
The Arab States reaffirm the importance of the introduction of Arabic as an official language at the WTO to enhance the participation of their governments, business communities and civil societies in the multilateral trading system and in WTO.
The State of Kuwait supports the African and Arab proposal on WTO future work programme to mitigate the impact of the food market prices and volatility on Least Developed Countries and Net Food Importing Countries.
It also welcomes the Draft Decision on LDC Accessions and urges its adoption at this conference.
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12/16/2011
Chairman of WTO conference affirms failure to resolve global crisis
GENEVA, The chairman of the 8th conference of the World Trade Organization criticized on Friday ineffective reactions of major powers to the global financial and economic crises.
Olusen Agana, also Nigeria's Minister of Trade and Investment, said in a statement at inauguration session of the international organization conference that measures that had been taken by major powers were insufficient to resolve the ongoing global crisis.
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He slammed politicians for influencing nations' decisions in this respect, noting that such crisis, to be resolved, would warrant economic reforms and trade liberalisation.
The WTO official also expressed criticisms of protectionism policies adopted by some of the nations that were affected with the crises.
Priority should be given to common interests of nations of the globe, he said, criticing some countries for adopting national economic policies of isolation.link
More .. Links - WTO ...
and .. Links to Iraq and WTO ... 
15 December 2011GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT Historic deal reached on government procurementParties to the Plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) reached today (15 December 2011) a historic deal to improve the disciplines for this key sector of the economy and expand the market access coverage valued at between 80 to 100 billion dollars a year.
Government procurementEighth WTO Ministerial Conference
“This extremely important deal means better disciplines for awarding government contracts. And this also means better use of public resources in a moment when, more than ever, the economic crisis calls for fiscal discipline.
It will also provide a needed stimulus for the world economy because it would apply to many sectors of it, namely to the suppliers of infrastructure, public transport, hospital equipment and many other government services,” said Director-General Pascal Lamy.
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Participants negotiated the revision of the 1994 Agreement ten years ago and the conclusion came hours before the official opening of the 8th Ministerial Conference when Ministers belonging to the 42 parties to the Agreement adopted the text of the revised Agreement and the annexes containing the commitments made for the expanded coverage.
It is calculated that market access gains from this expanded Agreement will come from the addition of new government entities including local governments and sub-central entities, services and other areas of the public procurement activities to the current Agreement.It will also speed up the accession of new members to the current 42 participants. China, as well as eight other WTO members, is currently negotiating accession to the voluntary Agreement.The new transparency provisions would be also effective in fighting corruption.For more information Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
December 15, 2011
WTO launches new tool for accessing trade policy information
The WTO has developed a new application that will allow users to access via one portal all trade policy information notified to the WTO by its members. Known as the Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP), the new application will encompass tariffs, non-tariff measures and related trade statistics.
In its current version, access is limited to WTO members only. However, I-TIP will also be made available to the public via a user-friendly interface, making it an extremely useful tool for governments, the private sector, academia and the public at large. “This new application reinforces the WTO's role as the depository of trade intelligence,” said Director-General Pascal Lamy.
I-TIP will allow the user to see all non-tariff measures (i.e. policy measures, other than tariffs, that can potentially affect trade in goods) introduced by WTO members for one or more products over a particular timeframe, as chosen by the user.
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It also provides access to the tariff rates and import flows for the same products for which non-tariff measures, such as anti-dumping measures, have been notified. Over time, measures related to services and intellectual property rights will also be added to I-TIP.
Information sessions on I-TIP will be held during the WTO Ministerial Conference. These will take place on Friday 16 December (14.30 — 15.30) in Room C of the CCV and on Saturday 17 December (11.00 — 12.00) in Room B of the CCV. Further information on the new application will be available at a dedicated stand on the first floor of the CICGlink
Snip ~ "Trade ministers and representatives from the 153 member countries will gather in the Swiss city for the ministerial meeting Thursday, with the closing session scheduled for Saturday evening"
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The Eighth Session of the Ministerial Conference will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 15-17 December 2011, as agreed by the General Council at its meeting in October 2010.The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.*
News itemChairman’s Remarks*
News itemChairman’s statement*
More news on the Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference
December 14, 2011
WTO Shifts Meeting Goals Amid Doha Stalemate
The rainy, gray weather over Geneva matches the mood of the first ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization since 2009, with ministers turning their attention to other areas amid little hope of resurrecting the stagnant Doha round of trade talks.
"This ministerial is like a Russian doll—the deeper you go, the less and less you get," says Simon Evenett, a professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. "In fact, the only part of the doll that looks like anything is Russia's accession."
Trade ministers and representatives from the 153 member countries will gather in the Swiss city for the ministerial meeting Thursday, with the closing session scheduled for Saturday evening.
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The Russian Federation will officially join the international organization on Friday, the last of the Group of 20 leading and emerging nations to do so after it took 18 years to agree to concessions on tariffs and other trade policies. Samoa and Montenegro will also join, the only concrete events on an agenda where ministers will mull the future of the Doha Development Agenda, the trade talks started after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with the aim of making global trade rules fairer for poorer countries.
"Ministers deeply regret that, despite full engagement and intensified efforts...the negotiations are at an impasse," a note circulated ahead of the meeting said. "It is unlikely that all elements of the Doha Development Round could be concluded simultaneously in the near future."
They must now decide how to make progress on this thorny issue, with one option being an overhaul of the entire framework for making decisions. Currently, all 153 WTO members have to agree before new rules can come into force, but a change could mean faster progress in the future.
"We need to explore new negotiating approaches to end the stagnation on the Doha Round," said Ambassador Michael Punke, U.S. permanent representative to the WTO.
Another option would be to break talks down into areas where members can reach consensus and forge ahead with those, without waiting to agree on all elements at once—known as the "single undertaking"—as originally planned. Others suggest restarting talks from scratch with a different agenda, given fundamental changes in the global economy such as the emergence of Brazil, Russia, India and China over the last decade.
"There's a lot of baggage; maybe some fresh diplomatic eyes would be good," the University of St. Gallen's Mr. Evenett said. "Do we have to stick with existing agenda, which is defined by the legacy of 1990s?"
The deadlock is also costly. Completing Doha could generate a boost to the global economy of some $160 billion, Bernard Hoekman, director of the international trade department at the World Bank, wrote in a recent paper.
But there are still some glimmers of hope.
Ministers are expected to sign off on a new government procurement agreement, or GPA, under which members open up public procurement of goods, services and capital infrastructure. In most countries, government procurement accounts for 15% to 20% of gross domestic product, according to the WTO.
Ministers are meeting to discuss outstanding issues ahead of the main ministerial and hope to conclude a new agreement, which Nicholas Niggli, the Swiss diplomat chairing GPA negotiations, said could open up opportunities "representing tens of billions of dollars/euros annually."
There are 42 member countries of the GPA with another nine, including China, negotiating to join.
Some delegates may also want to discuss using the WTO to resolve disputes over currencies, a debate driven by Brazilian anger over China's policy of keeping the yuan pegged to the U.S. dollar. However, this isn't on the official agenda.
Brazilian Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel said last month that exchange-rate factors are devastating the productive structure of Latin American countries. At the same time, China is mulling where to invest its $3.2 trillion of foreign-exchange reserves, a senior civil servant said in Brussels.
Ministers will also discuss how to bring the world's least-developed countries into the organization, with the ministers set to agree on tools, such as trade-for-aid programs, and a subcommittee to coordinate special treatment and assistance in order to develop them.
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Below you will find a few links to articles that show how close Iraq is to becoming part of the international community .. once again. Fingers are crossed .. and hopes are high .. kel ...
Iraq needs to activate their exchange rate to become a member of WTO .. Link ~ Iraq and WTO and Dinar " The obstacle that prevents access to Iraq's WTO membership is a file of Iraq's debt, and hopefully will be resolved soon ...*Iraq, Shabibi, and UNCTAD ~ November 2011 ~Iraq and UN ~ *Central Bank of Iraq ~ Shabibi Attends UNCTAD Meetings (additional articles below today's post:) ...
*WTO December 15-17-2011 ~ Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference ~ Russia To Become a Member with U.S. Backing ... *March 2012 ~ WTO Seminar on Exchange Rates and Trade ~ And ..December 15-17-2011 8th WTO Ministerial Conference ...
Friday, December 9, 2011
Iraq's Minister of Planning meets the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva.
Met with His Excellency the Minister of Planning Dr. Yusuf Ali Shukri, the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 8/12/2011, and the presence of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq Ambassador Mohammed Ali Hakim, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi.
The sides discussed on many issues of concern to Iraq, especially the most important priorities of the main economic issues and development and activating programs to assist Iraq in the framework of its accession to the WTO and the Iraq policy in the field of investment and trade, science and technology, in addition to holding training courses for the development of Iraqi capabilities in the areas of trade and human development, economic and prepare a report of an integrated investment policy of Iraq, and expressed the readiness of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to provide the necessary support and technical advice for Iraq and the request from the Iraqi side to prepare a paper priorities include Iraq in the short and medium enterprises.
Including the development of a general framework for comprehensive economic policy, including key sectors such as energy, agriculture, water, industry and human resources.
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Audio ~ Russia's Accession into WTO ~ 10 November 2011: Working Party seals the deal on Russia’s membership negotiations Audio: Press conference
Eighth WTO Ministerial ConferenceThe Eighth Session of the Ministerial Conference will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 15-17 December 2011, as agreed by the General Council at its meeting in October 2010.The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.
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News itemChairman’s Remarks*
News itemChairman’s statement*
More news on the Eighth WTO Ministerial ConferenceNovember 11, 2011U.S. Backs Russia's WTO EntryThe United States agreed to allow Russia to join the World Trade Organization (Bloomberg) after it resolved a dispute with neighboring Georgia. Russia's entry is expected to be approved next month at the WTO conference in Geneva.Russia's accession to the WTO can boost U.S. exports to the country, but the U.S. Congress will have to graduate Russia from Cold War-era trade legislation, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich in this CFR Interview.link
December 18, 2011 
